


Listen, You Fool, You’re Falling In Love

by jackpip



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Falling In Love, Love Confessions, M/M, TGSSecretSanta2k18, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 09:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17098139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackpip/pseuds/jackpip
Summary: “Come look at the stars,” he murmured, pulling him close and tucking his shoulders under his arm. They sat in silence for a while, marveling at the sky and its majesty.Naturally, it was only so long before Phineas broke the quiet.Do you believe in soulmates, Phil?”Phillip tried not to laugh—really, he did. Or, at least, he tried the second he realised Phineas wasn’t joking, wasn’t feigning the wonder in his voice.





	Listen, You Fool, You’re Falling In Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Em3kitty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Em3kitty/gifts).



_ A breath. Just one solitary _

_ Breath, and I was gone. _

_~~ Running away from everything, everything that isn’t you. ~~ _

 

A yawn pulls Phillip from his reverie. Turning, he sees Barnum, huddled on the sofa and surrounded by a multitude of blankets. The man is half-asleep, eyes lidded and head falling. Still, he flashes Phillip a grin.

“Go back to your writing, darling,” he yawns again, “don’t let me disturb you.”

Phillip rolls his eyes and stands, leaving the pale blue notebook open on his desk and making to join his partner in the orbital of warmth he seems to have created. Barnum shifts to lean against the arm of the sofa, legs curled beneath him, and Phillip slots into the blankets—they must have at least  _ 10 _ —next to him.

 

_ Your words formed crystals, thoughts so _

_ Pure they turned white in the cold, _

_ Cold atmosphere. The air between us was _

_ Lined with them, fractals so perfectly _

_ Brittle I feared they would _

_ Break, shattered by the tension lining your brow. _

 

“You really do need to sleep more,” Phillip sighs as he rests his hand on the nape of Barnum’s neck, gently rubbing a thumb on his cheek. Phineas closes his eyes and leans into the gesture, lips curled so far upwards they almost reach his tousled hair.

Phillip’s heart melts. He’s beautiful.

 

_ Still, you smiled, and, really, _

_ I had no option. _

 

_ — _

 

It’s the scratch of the needle on the record, the needlessly eccentric static in a world of CDs, that makes Phillip’s mind wander. Why Barnum insisted on buying a record player for this sole purpose escapes him. Still, he guesses there are worse excuses for a purchase of that expense than to dance with a significant other.

This is the situation in which Phillip finds himself, chest pulled close to Barnum’s as they spin around the living room. His feet move mindlessly, pulled into place by the gentle grip the other man has on his back, as his thoughts drift back to his writing. While it’s no longer his profession, Phillip still makes a point of writing about something different every day.

Lately, though, he’s become increasingly unable to fill his pages with anything other than wisps of dark, wavy hair and nights darker still, whispers of unspoken,  _ reluctant _ love between flashes of white smiles like shooting stars in their own galaxy.

Entirely lost in thought, Phillip trips and falls forward. The other man catches him and gently pushes him off his shoulder, face displaying his evident amusement. They turn to face each other, and Phillip is instantly struck with the fantastically painful realisation that Phineas might just have the most  _ brilliant _ eyes he’s ever seen. Green flecks of unadulterated joy seem to dance inside rutilant irises; they paint a waltz, three steps for every one he feels himself take.

Phillip finds, rather embarrassingly—for him, at least—that he can’t turn away, can’t bear to break contact with the ringmaster’s stare. Barnum doesn’t seem to mind, letting out a low chuckle and kissing the top of Phillip’s forehead.

“Maybe I should make some dinner,” the man mutters, pressing a second kiss to the corner of Phillip’s mouth, “You go and relax.” He turns off the record player and, without further encouragement, Phillip jogs upstairs to their bedroom and retrieves his notebook.

 

_ A look. Just one solitary _

_ Look, and I could never return. _

 

_~~ Not that I would ever want to, anyway. ~~ _

 

_ Brown is such an unseemly, tedious colour that only _

_ You could cause me to so quickly become _

_ Enamoured with it. Somehow, your _

_ Eyes were wider, shinier than the _

_ Dewy, dead leaves on the ground when you pulled me _

_ Over the tree stump, into your heart. _

 

It was only a few months ago. Feeling particularly restless, Barnum had decided they needed to ruin the sanctity of their pyjama days in the name of  _ “going on an adventure” _ and leave the house.

Phillip protested, naturally; he was curled up in bed, still in an old hoodie with messy hair and unbrushed teeth. Nevertheless, the older man had been so insistent on going out that Phillip didn’t even fix his hair, let alone set foot within five metres of a toothbrush, before they were leaving, driving to the woods on a Sunday evening in the middle of October.

_ I put my faith in you that day and, really, _

_ I had no other option. _

 

Even now, Phillip laughs as he remembers the ludicrosity of the situation: the second they arrived, Barnum had grabbed his wrist and pulled him, sprinting at full speed into the heart of the forest. Terrified, it’d only been a matter of time before Phillip tripped over a stray root in the ground; he landed face-first in the mud, pulling Barnum down with him.

 

_ I remember, sometimes, the night you _

_ Told me you believed in a concept so utterly _

_ Ridiculous as soulmates. I _

_ Laughed at your _

_ Irrational thoughts, _

_ Thought you insane, but you just... _

_ Smiled at me. _

 

“This, Barnum, is entirely, absolutely,  _ 100 percent your fault,” _ he’d grumbled, trying to wipe the mud from his face but only managing to spread it. As he tried to stand, though, the other man pulled him down again.

“What the hell are you doing?” Phillip was less annoyed and more bemused as to why Barnum seemed insistent on sitting in the leaves.

“Come look at the stars,” he murmured, pulling him close and tucking his shoulders under his arm. They sat in silence for a while, marveling at the sky and its majesty.

Naturally, it was only so long before Phineas broke the quiet. 

Do you believe in soulmates, Phil?”

Phillip tried not to laugh—really, he did. Or, at least, he tried the second he realised Phineas wasn’t joking, wasn’t feigning the wonder in his voice.

“There are more reasons to believe in things less far fetched,” Phillip began tentatively, “And, I must admit, I find them more convincing than the concept of any kind of destiny.”

Expecting the other man to show at least some form of disappointment, Phillip was confused when Phineas merely grinned at him.

“I forgot—you’ve never been in love before-”

“I’m not in love,” Phillip cut him off without thinking and instantly regretted it, seeing the most minuscule, concentrated dose of pain injected into Barnum’s eyes. Still, the man didn’t push him away, only held him closer.

“Give it time, Phillip,” he turned to the younger man, ran a hand through his hair, “One day, you’ll feel it, and suddenly you’ll know. You’ll understand.”

Phineas looked back up at the sky, and Phillip couldn’t help but tangle their fingers together, squeezing his hand gently. The other man shifted to face him again and Phillip moved closer.

“I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand your logic,” he smirked, their lips brushing.

Phineas smiled back, mouth all crooked and lips all perfectly red, and, really, it would have been a  _ crime _ not to kiss him.

 

_ Everything makes a little more sense now. _

 

_~~ It’s the lightening of my chest, the ~~ _

_~~ Lightning in my thunderous mind because ~~ _

_~~ All I can think of is you. ~~ _

 

_ — _

 

Phillip is restless. He can’t sleep—really, he’s not sure why. Maybe it’s the extensive volume of coffee he consumed before bed, or the lie-in they had in the morning. Or, maybe it’s  _ him,  _ facing Phillip even in sleep.

Despite being only lit by the soft glow of a streetlight creeping in from between the blinds, Phineas is the most stunning thing he’s ever seen.

Absently stroking the other man’s hair, Phillip thinks, not for the first time, that if he had to describe a perfect man, he would undoubtedly speak of the beautifully tousled hair in front of him, paint pictures of the ever-so faint freckles that prick his memories with intimate pointillism.

Phineas shifts in his sleep and his hand automatically laces with his partner’s, head nestling into his chest as he gives a contented sigh. Phillip’s heart stutters; from nowhere, he can almost feel any doubt he had left slip away with the other man’s steady breaths.

And, all at once, he  _ understands. _

It’s not a big moment like he anticipated, no great declaration surrounded by roses and chocolates, but it doesn’t need to be, because  _ everything makes sense now _ and Barnum was right; he _ knows  _ he’s _ fallen- _

He gently slips his hand away and finds his notebook; there’s no way he’ll sleep until the ink calms his suddenly racing heart, the scratching of a pen providing white noise that takes the edge off his realisation.

 

_ A touch. Just one solitary _

_ Touch, and I’m tripping, _

_ Twirling, falling _

 

_ in _

  
  


_ love. _

 

_~~ I don’t doubt that you’re going to catch me. ~~ _

 

_ Really, I have no other option but to kiss you. _

 

“Why don’t you, then?” Phillip turns, the rough, sleepy tones of Phineas’ voice startling him. He just stares, wondering how the hell he managed to wake him up—he was so  _ careful— _ before a more urgent worry overcomes him:  _ How much had Barnum read? _

Before he can process any further, the other man is ghosting his hand along Phillip’s face, drawing him close and bringing their lips together. Without thinking, he smiles into it and rests his hand against Phineas’ chest.

_ Holy shit. _

His heart is  _ pounding, _ and Phillip knows why. Breaking away to lean their foreheads together, he takes a breath and whispers, lips so close they still touch.

“Maybe you were right. About soulmates, that is.” Phineas lets out a breathy laugh.

“I saw,” he nods towards the notebook, “I love you, y’know.”

Silence, just a beat short of too long.

“I love you too.” Phillip gives him a shy smile and, damnit, Phineas is  _ too far gone. _

He pulls Phillip into a second kiss, somehow more tender than the first, and the younger man practically melts into his arms. Their chests press together and Phineas’ hand cards through Phillip’s hair, clutching like he’ll never let go, heartbeat so strong now that Phillip thinks he can feel it in  _ his _ chest.

Every staccato beat seems to scream  _ I love you,  _ and Phillip will be damned if he doesn’t kiss a reply to every one.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas! I really hope you enjoy my Secret Santa gift and that it fit the prompt ok! :) <3 ~ Jack


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